Past

Little Gerald pulled himself up out of the busted basement window and thrust his filthy fist into the sky. "Amazing all powerful super muscley manly man is victorious!" he shouted. He took his find, a can of expired peas he had found behind a broken furnace, and shoved it into the pocket of his overalls.

Nearby there was the crash of falling glass from one of the abandoned office buildings. The sound made him jump. The sun would be setting soon, and that is when the dog packs came out in force.

He held his hand up to his short dusty hair as if he were holding a cell-phone. "A.a.p.s.m.m.m. will now return to base."

He ran across Main Street, lined with abandoned cars. Already they were beginning to crumble. The children had long ago busted out all the windows, and once they were exposed to the elements, it took almost no time for the seats and upholstery to become a wet slurry, a weeping mass clinging onto a skeleton of rusted springs.

Little Gerald slammed his back up against a rotting Prius and held up his fingers as if he was holding a gun. Doing his best imitation of the Mission Impossible theme, he moved from car to car, checking for dragons, and making a dakka dakka dakka noise when he found an imaginary nest of trolls. He was just about to radio in his success when he heard a ruckus coming from the crater where the LDS temple had once stood.

It looked like a great bowl, as if everything including the foundation had been scooped out by a ginormous ice-cream scooper. Scampering across the moldy fountains and cracked stones that had once been Main Street Plaza, he peeked out into the crater.

"Pinky pinky pinky," a group of filthy girls shouted as they danced around, throwing rocks at the little child huddled at the center.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Little Gerald hollered, running up to the group, swinging his arms as if he held a light saber.

The girls were so shocked by his attack that two of them failed to get out of the way and he bowled right into them, knocking them over.

Little Gerald stood over the simpering pink girl and held his hands out. "I have created an impenetrable force field," he announced. "Nothing can penetrate it, that's what impenetrable means."

One of the girls threw a rock and struck him in the head. He fell to the ground, blood trickling down his face as the kids laughed.

"Leave her alone," Gerald repeated as he stood up.

"But she's pink," one of the girls said, scooping up a fresh rock.

"Who cares? You are pale," he said, pointing to one girl. "And you are brown," he said, pointing to another. "And you are a jerk," he said, pointing to a third. "The point is she has feelings. At least, I think she has feelings..."

Little Gerald turned around. "Do you have feelings?"

"Of course I do!" the child whimpered.

"Okay, she has feelings, mystery solved, so you can't hit her with rocks anymore."

One of the girls lifted up her arm to throw anew when the clasp to her dirty pigtail broke off. "What the..."

Another girl's sandal-strap broke, and she tripped backwards, landing on her rump.

A third girl stepped backwards onto a sharp rock, injuring her bare foot with a yelp.

"It's the curse!" One of them said. "Don't let the Dyson kid touch you!"

Gerald reached out his arms and yelled, "Kame-Hame-HA!" and the bullies scattered before him. Feeling quite proud of himself, little Gerald turned around and put out his hand. "My name is Gerald, but you can call me Geri."

Zurra looked at his hand fearfully. "But... I'm pink."

"I like pink," little Gerald exclaimed. "One time I found some cupcakes in the trash, and the frosting was pink."

Her young eyes went wide with adoration, and she took his hand.

* * *

Gerald opened his eyes just in time to see a small bird pecking at the flesh of his cheek. He sat up in shock, causing the little purple thing to fly away with a strange kah-kee kah-kee kind of noise. He dabbed the wound with his finger to see how deep it was, and then looked down at his chicken cuddled up next to him. It clucked happily, then stood up, proud of the chocolate flavored egg she had lain.

"I think I'll call you Cadbury," he said, petting her on the head. Cadbury squawked awkwardly, making her eyes bulge even more than normal.

Gerald looked around at the beautiful trees planted in a great spiral around the base of the bridge that spanned out over the waterfront. The bridge had sheltered him from the worst of the rain, but he was still cold and shivering as his breath misted before him. Gathering some fallen leaves, he got a fire going and quietly cooked his egg on a rock while Cadbury pecked around for bugs.

In a flash of flame, Trahzi appeared.

"Looks like Zurra didn't find me last night," Gerald commented as he slurped down his breakfast.

"No, but she did check most of the overpasses in the city."

Gerald stood up. "You watched her?"

"We watch everyone."

Gerald stuck his tongue in his cheek. "Uh huh. I think today, we are going to practice saying things in a less creepy way."

"Creepy? We are not creepy."

Gerald walked off and she followed, suddenly unsure.

"...are we?"

* * *

Gerald found a really neat spider web underneath a skyline marker just outside of the academy. "Ooh, Trahzi, look at this one. Can you take a picture of it and send it to me?"

Trahzi's eyes flashed. "Done."

"Sweet, thanks."

Students glared at Gerald and Trahzi as they walked to school together. "So did you hear?" One asked her friend. "Cha'Rolette Ssykes has been bringing Dyson lunch every day."

"She probably just feels sorry for him."

"I don't."

Gerald breathed in deeply and wiped the blood off of his cheek. "You know, I think today is going to be a good day."

Some of the boys stood menacingly beneath one of the crystal trees. "That guy has no business spending time with the best girl in the school."

"Someone should take him out."

"Did you hear? He's failed every single test since he got here."

Gerald took a peeled lemon out of his pocket and took a bite. "Good day. Good day."

* * *

Gerald took a deep breath and ran his card through the reader as fast as he possibly could. His locker snapped and blazed from within, then swung open on one hinge, smoke pouring out.

"Hey Dyson," Tiboe asked as he walked by. "That Tindorian impressionism project is due today; did you get a chance to finish it?"

Gerald pulled the door open by a warped corner and looked at the little pile of black ash contained within. "Yes, I spent all night working on it."

"That was nice of Stubbs to give an extra credit assignment that you can actually do."

Greald sighed. "Yes, it was."

Tiboe glanced around and then leaned in close. "So, I gotta know, what's it like, having four of the most beautiful girls in the school bringing you lunch every day?"

Gerald scratched the back of his neck as he watched the girls enter the classroom along with the others. Ilrica leapt up, stepping on one boy's head to get in quicker, knocking him to the ground. Cha'Rolette floated by, oblivious to the others. Anyone who didn't step out of her way was roughly shoved aside by invisible hands. Trahzi appeared in a flash of fire at her desk, frightening the nearby students, and Zurra became a pink slurry, flowing in underneath everyone.

"Eew, gross," Kamanie yelled, stepping out of the pink river.

Gerald turned to Tiboe. "To be honest, they're kind of scary."